


You're Somebody Else

by IsraelKami



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Claude von Riegan, Character Study, Claude needs a hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route Spoilers, Fluff, Goddess Tower (Fire Emblem), M/M, Mental Health Issues, Pining, Rarepair Suffering, Songfic, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), YES BETA WE LIVE UNLIKE GLENN
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25700476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsraelKami/pseuds/IsraelKami
Summary: They did it. The war was finally over. The combined forces of the Leicester Alliance and the Knights of Seiros stopped the spread of the Adrestian Empire and put an end to Those Who Slither in the Dark. But the nightmares are plentiful, and Claude von Riegan is so very tired of them.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	You're Somebody Else

**Author's Note:**

> You're Somebody Else, by Flora Cash off of their Baby, It's Okay album. 
> 
> Thanks to El for introducing me to this delicious rarepair and to both El and Jess for encouraging me to continue writing when I became overwhelmed and stressed by the very though of it.

The cool night breeze whipped through Claude’s hair, throwing the carefully made braid against his head. The stars above shone a gentle light onto the otherwise dark Goddess Tower. Shivering slightly, he pulled the edges of his golden jacket closer and looked past the edge of the tower. 

From his vantage point, he could barely see the edges of Gronder Field, where the devastating battle of the same name took place seven months prior. The blood-covered fields regularly appeared in his more graphic nightmares. Those were the nights that the screams tore through his dreams and into reality. He slept away from the others specifically for that reason. Not that he could stop them from moving rooms and following him. 

That was why he was up on the Goddess Tower late at night anyways. One month had passed since the final battle against Nemesis and the Ten Elite, and Claude couldn’t rest. The month since their victory had been hollow at best and soul-sucking at worst. Claude and his esteemed generals had returned to Garreg Mach Monastery, where they were almost immediately roped into rebuilding Fódlan under one nation, with no time to grieve. 

Claude was taking the end of the war particularly hard. As the leader of the combined forces of the Leicester Alliance and the Knights of Seiros during the crusade against the Adrestian Empire, he gave the final okay on decisions that resulted in the loss of thousands of lives. Lives that he knew personally. 

The bright orange hair of Ferdinand von Aegir flashed through his mind. His body at the Great Bridge of Myrddin lying in a pile of his own blood haunted Claude near every night. So did the broken and burning corpse of Bernadetta von Varley, burned alive at the Battle of Gronder Field; and the collapsed forms of Caspar von Bergliez and Linhardt von Hevring in Fort Merceus. Hubert von Vestra’s final chilling words on the steps of the Imperial Palace in Enbarr echoed in his mind again.

_ “For every step you take along that path, our thorns will cut into your heels.” _

He shook his head violently, letting out a gasp that he didn’t know he had been holding in. Sucking in deep breaths of air, Claude walked to the edge of the tower and placed his hands on the parapets of stone, trying to distract himself watching the forests surrounding the Monastery. 

His nightmares had started soon after Edelgard von Hresvelg’s death at their former professor’s hands in Enbarr. Her head appeared in many of them, along with her former classmates that had died in the war. But the nightmares never stopped there. They always went deeper to attack the people he cared about the most. His former classmates. His friends. 

Tonight’s nightmare took place on Gronder Field, as they usually did. The chaos of battle surrounded Claude as he flew above the plains, taking aim at faceless soldier after faceless soldier. Then, in the distance, a single scream pierced through the dream. It was a different person almost every night, but tonight, there had been multiple. 

He saw Leonie fighting fiercely on foot before being overwhelmed and pierced with a lance. Ignatz had been surrounded in the distance, on his knees and face defiant before being struck with a miasma. The towering mass of muscle that was Raphael had been covered in what looked like hundreds of arrows before falling. Marianne, Hilda, and Lysithea being swarmed by a pack of demonic beasts. His beloved Teach, held at axe point by a faceless soldier before being beheaded. 

Claude had all seen that before. Tonight’s nightmare targeted a new person. He had looked over his wyvern to see the status of the battle beneath him and had been greeted with the still, unblinking eyes of his silver haired knight. Ashe lay under him, unmoving and sliced cleanly in half by one of the many faceless soldiers. 

“Claude? Is that you?” A voice floated up from the hole where the ladder to climb up to the Goddess Tower lay. A small hand placed a flickering candle on the floor of the tower. Ashe peaked his head up over the rim and climbed up the rest of the distance, turning to see Claude standing near the edge. “I thought I might find you here.” 

“What brings you here this time of night?” Claude tried to put on one of his trademarked grins. “You should be asleep. It’s not good for little boys to be up past their bedtimes.” 

Ashe crossed the distance between the two and stared up at Claude, meeting his gaze. 

“I know you haven’t been sleeping. Is there anything that I can do to help?” 

“I appreciate the sentiment Ashe, but this feels like my burden to bear,” Claude felt his shoulders sag as he looked away from Ashe. “I mean, I’ve gotta be able to do some things by myself if I’m gonna be king,” He felt a pang in his heart as he tried to push Ashe away. 

“I don’t mean to push you, but you’re really not looking well,” Ashe continued despite Claude’s attempts to assuage his fears. “I’ve noticed that you haven’t been eating or sleeping, and that’s not healthy. Even kings need help sometimes!” 

“You’re not gonna let me get out of this one, are you?” Claude groaned and turned around, sliding to the floor, back against the stonework of the tower. 

“Claude, I care about you a lot. I want to make sure that you’re okay,” Ashe joined him on the floor and grabbed one of Claude’s hands. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but we’ve all been through a lot in the last five years. I can help, I’m sure of it!” 

Claude winced again, feeling the tug on his heart from Ashe’s earnestness. “You’ve got a lot of faith. I wish you could share some of that with me sometimes.” He knocked Ashe’s shoulder and smiled softly. “Alright. But you have to promise not to tell anyone else.” 

“I promise. As long as it’s not going to harm anyone else.” 

“Tch,” Claude chucked, “I wouldn’t do that to you or anybody here.” He stretched and shook his head. “Where to start, where to start?” 

“At the beginning.” Ashe insisted, his bright eyes meeting Claude’s. 

“I’ve been dealing with nightmares ever since we defeated the Adrestian Empire and Old Man Bones,” Claude started, squeezing Ashe’s hand tightly. “Pretty much every night. It used to just be memories from the war, but lately, it’s been more personal. I get to watch one or more of my friends and allies die just about every night,” He bit his tongue at Ashe’s gasp. “Normally I can shake them off and be just fine, but tonight’s dream was different.” 

“You don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to,” Ashe shook his head. “You’re normally very tightlipped, so I understand if this is making you uncomfortable.”

Claude continued on as if he hadn’t heard Ashe’s interruption. “Someone very important to me was killed in my dream tonight, and I couldn’t handle that,” His shoulders shook slightly. “I looked over the side of my wyvern and you had been sliced in half by some faceless nobody.” 

Claude let the silence fall over the Goddess Tower. He shut his eyes and let his head fall between his knees. The breeze had calmed down, leaving an eerie stillness in its wake. He picked up the sound of Ashe’s breathing as he squeezed Claude’s hand thrice. Ashe scooted closer to Claude and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. 

“When Lonato was killed,” Ashe released Claude and pulled his chin up to meet his own eyes. “I was so angry and scared. I had just lost another father figure and the Church of Seiros acted like nothing was wrong. I felt so alone.” Claude nodded, remembering the countless hours that Ashe had spent in the Cathedral in the early months of their education. 

“I wouldn’t have made it through that time if it weren’t for you and the support of the other Deer,” Ashe smiled and Claude felt the blood rush to his face at their closeness. “I can’t say the same for the others, but I’ll follow you wherever you’ll go,” He brushed a hand against Claude’s cheek, brushing away the glimmering tears gathering there. “To the ends of the earth, if you’ll have me.” 

“How can you do this to me?” Claude grabbed Ashe’s hand and placed it on his own heart. “You’re so genuine,” He whispered. “I know your deepest secrets and greatest desires, your likes and dislikes, everything about you. But you barely know anything about me. You don’t even ask me to tell you anything.” Claude shut his eyes, letting the tears fall down his cheeks. 

“Will you let me in?” Ashe confronted him, softness in his voice. “There’s only one thing I want, and that is to help you.” 

“Will you be mine?” Claude asked, feeling his heart start racing as the reality of the situation began to take in. “My knight, my confidant, my love? This is hard for me to admit, but I don’t think I can make it on my own,” He opened his eyes and met Ashe’s, watching his face break out into a gentle smile. “I need your help. I need you,” He bit out. 

“May I kiss you?” Ashe asked, his voice barely louder than a breathless whisper. 

“If you don’t do it soon, I’ll be afraid that I misunderstood your request.” He shot back, his hands already moving towards Ashe.

Claude pulled Ashe into his lap as their lips met. The two melted into each other, kisses gentle, but filled with an intense vulnerability unfamiliar to Claude. Ashe’s lips were impossibly soft, and Claude felt him leaning into each successive kiss, bordering on just-beyond chaste. He breathed in the minty scent of Ashe’s breath as the two broke apart momentarily, foreheads touching one another, his hands wrapped around Ashe’s waist and his neck for support. 

The sheer joy radiating from his heart seemed to warm the air surrounding the two. Claude stared into Ashe’s green eyes, shining like the stars in the night sky above them. He chuckled and pulled Ashe back in for another, more demanding kiss that left the two breathless afterwards. 

“We should go to your room,” Ashe’s smile twinkled with mirth and he made to stand up. “I’ve got to move my stuff in there after all,” He walked towards the exit of the tower, flashing Claude a flirtatious look over his shoulder. 

“Why, you little minx!” Claude let out a full belly laugh and stood up. “Lead the way, my gallant knight. I daresay I’ll sleep better with you by my side.” 


End file.
